According to Jim
Pt. 5
Introduction
Practical advice for practical living! Wisdom that we often fail to apply or live out and therefore we pay the price. Let’s listen and learn!
James 5:1-6
1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
(You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment. All the workers you've exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You've looted the earth and lived it up. But all you'll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse.)
A. According to Jim the one with the most toys doesn’t always win!
The people Jim encountered must have been like those around us. They flaunted their wealth. They showed their wealth through — grain, clothing and jewels. James says all of those things will decay. If you are not careful, you will give your entire life for things that will not last and that have no eternal significance. There will be no U-Haul attached to your hearse!
In verse 5, James says the people have used their money selfishly. Jim is not against toys or wealth. He simply makes an indictment on how much power money has over us. Money, houses, cars have become our God. We allow them to control our time, our thoughts, our planning, and our hearts! We become possessed by possessions!
Who owns your soul? What or who are you loyal too? The most important aspect of money management is the control of our attitude towards it. Money is not “the root of all evil” as Paul is often misquoted. His actual words are, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. Just as selfishness and ambition release all kinds of evil into the body – the love of money is the root from which all kinds of evil can branch out into your life.
James 5:7-9
7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
(The Master could arrive at any time.)
B. According to Jim we should keep one eye peeled.
We have forgotten that Jesus could come back right now! We have no expectancy anymore of rapture or return and it causes us to rupture relationship.
One of my favorite groups growing up was called DeGarmo and Key. My best friends and I used to try to dress like them. Recently the lead singer/guitarist, Dana Key, died and much to the chagrin of Julie I decided that on our vacation this summer my kids should have the benefit of tasting the sweet nectar of my music. As I listened, it struck me about how many of their songs (on the 4 CDs we listened to over and over again) referred to the 2nd coming. Songs like “When He Comes Back”, “Ready or Not”, “Are You Ready”, “Alleluia, Christ is Coming”. It caused me to stop and think about the songs we used to sing in worship services, (some escapist I agree) like I’ll Fly Away, The King is Coming, We shall see the King, I can still hear Jamie’s grandfather starting “Tis a Glorious Church . . . Wave the banner, shout His praises, For our victory is nigh! We shall join our conqu’ring Savior, We shall reign with Him on high!). I realized that most of the songs we listen to today and sing in church no longer push us to remember we are only days, moments, and seconds from the reality of the return of Christ!
We have lost sight of the hope. We live with our head, our eyes, and our hope down! If we would live with one eye pealed, understanding that the 2nd coming is closer now than ever it would impact how we live. It used to impact how folks lived. They lived prepared. They lived with their hearts set on heaven. They lived watchful. Now we get mired down. We live unprepared. We live undisciplined. We have our hearts on earthly concerns and treasures. I came to shout with Jim . . . People get ready Jesus is comin / Soon we’ll be going home / People get ready Jesus is coming / To take from the world His own.
Let that hope change your outlook. Let that truth change your stress level. Let that knowledge build urgency in you for spiritual things like witnessing, righteousness, and spiritual disciplines! Keep your eyes pealed . . . readiness is our call. Sloth, apathy, stress, mistreatment of our brothers and sisters all stem from lack of living with an eye to the sky! Live ready!
How would you really live if you really believed this truth?
Paul knew that if we believed this truth that it would impact us. "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober . . ., putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation . . . Therefore comfort each other and edify one another." (1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8, 11).
Precisely because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments. - C.S. Lewis
The first century church greeted one another and left one another's presence saying "Maranatha" , which means "Our Lord Comes" (1 Cor. 16:22). Now we greet each other with “How’s the weather, what’s up” or leave with “See you, take it easy?” It is because we have forgotten to focus on His coming.
Keeping an eye pealed would cause us to work towards being equipped and dictate how we treat one another.
James 5:10-12
10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 12Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.
(12And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don't add words like "I swear to God" to your own words. Don't show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can't be used against you.)
C. According to Jim we can make God look bad!
Keep your word! What the people in James’ day were doing was making oaths on a daily basis. The problem with this was that they were not taking their oaths very seriously.
They had forgotten or chosen to ignore the fact that an oath is a serious matter. In Deut. 6:13 we read "Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take oaths in His name." Taking an oath is a serious matter and when we invoke God’s name or other things He has given us, we are making God out to be unimportant.
We trivialize that which is important. We desecrate that which is holy.
We make God a party to our promise. We involve Him in what we promise to do. And when we do that on a regular basis, sooner or later we will break our oath and God becomes part of a broken promise. Be people of your word. Let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no". So when we say we are going to do something and don’t do it we make God a liar! Honor your word! Jim is trying to teach us that we should be people whose word is their bond! If we say yes, if we say I will, if we say I promise that should settle it and we should honor our word! If they can’t believe our word they won’t believe His Word!
James 5:13-20
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Our lack of confession keeps us sick.
We view healing and sickness as only a physical thing. And the good news is that physical healing is still very much available. Don’t miss or forget that fact. This is an encouraging passage that reminds us that our Father is still willing and able to heal our physical infirmities. Don’t settle for sickness!
However, Jim almost makes it very clearly that there is a correlation between our physical health and our spiritual health. The tough truth is that our lack of confession, transparent living keeps us sick! Being physically well, but being spiritually sick is still a miserable condition. Likewise, being spiritually healthy while still being physically sick although better is still not the complete package. James links confession to health which produces – wholeness! We don’t hear much about or experience wholeness any more. Because the price to tap into wholeness is confession!
(Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.)
And yet we have made it our uncommon practice to confess anything to anyone! We go to great lengths to not confess or reveal. Confession brings freedom. Rather than becoming confessors we have become concealers to our sickness and demise.
Jim calls us to have an attitude of prayer for one another. I should be able to count on you to pray for me. You should be able to count on me to be in prayer for you!
E. According to Jim the effectiveness of our prayers reveals our righteousness.
Prayers of a righteous man are effective . . . period. Not maybe, not possibly, not if fast enough, say right formula. No, they are said and declared to be effective. So if they are not effective (have no effect) then it is logical to assume that the criteria that is not being met is righteousness. If righteousness was not the key ingredient it would have read, “The prayers of a man are effective.” I wish it would have read that way because then we would all meet the stipulation and all of our prayers would be working. But it specifically says the prayers of a righteous man! No righteousness . . . no effective prayer!
David knew this. In Psalms 34:15 he states, “His eyes are above the righteous and His ears open to their cry (prayers).” Then in Psalms 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart He will not hear me.” Then John reiterates that our commitment to the commands of God brings confidence that God will answer our prayers. 1 John 3:21-22, “21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” They understood that prayers are effective based on the degree of our righteousness!
Are your prayers being effective? Are they effecting change? Are they impacting your situation? Could it be that there is a righteousness issue?
I have heard numerous sermons on the type of prayer offered here. It has to be fervent. It has to be faith filled. The type of prayer determines the answer. But perhaps the type of prayer isn’t as important as the pray-er.
I have seen unrighteous people pray ferverently. I have seen the unrighteous (far from God) pray faith filled prayers. They know enough of the Bible to make claim to promises that their unrighteousness disqualifies them to receive in spite of their faith! The prophets of Baal were passionate. They were probably more fervent than we are in our prayers because they were willing to cut themselves, prayed all day, put in the time and effort. Their prayer was filled with faith. They believed Baal would answer. But their unrighteousness overrode their fervent prayers!
Perhaps it is time that we examine the person praying more closely than the type of prayer being offered. Maybe we want to dissect the prayer because it lets the pray-er off the hook! If we put the attention on the prayer and not on the man praying it then puts the responsibility for the lack of effectiveness on God! But Jim is adamant that it is righteous men and women pray effective prayers!
Are your prayers being effective, active, powerful, or efficient?
And so we exit Jim’s teachings with a challenge to make sure that we are living up to our word, confessing our sins, and living righteously before God!
